New Delhi: Reigning national champion Sourabh Verma has appealed for financial help, which will enable him to play more international tournaments in order to improve his current world ranking.
The 26-year-old had burst into the scene with his first senior national title in 2011 but over training led to frequent break downs, which stopped him from playing tournaments consistently.
It affected his ranking as from a career-best ranking of 30 in 2012 he now finds himself at 55. “I don’t have financial support to play international tournaments. Now due to the new rule, only top 25 players are getting financial help from BAI. That led to my international exposure being reduced and hence my ranking slipped,” Verma lamented during an interaction.
He said that BAI did sponsor him for the Dutch Open but he needs more funding. “Of course, Dutch was financed by BAI after my performance in two domestic events but if I get financial support, I can do well,” he said.
“I need to play at least 10-12 tournaments to get more ranking points. I had a knee problem last year, which I had to take care by myself. I am playing tournaments on my own. As a player, it becomes a big burden if you have to manage all by yourself,” he pointed out.
Verma said that he had to even pay for all his travel arrangements for his next two tournaments – Swiss Open and Orleans Open.
“I will be playing Swiss Open and Orleans Open next after Barcelona Masters. I have paid for my visa and financing everything (hotel and travel) all by myself. So I don’t have much option to play bigger tournaments,” he reasoned.
Last year, Sourabh recovered from a shoulder injury to win two Super 100 titles at the Russia Open and Dutch Open and clinched his third Senior National title at Guwahati last week.